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Cummings’ explosive evidence was revealed in transcripts of his answers to the banking commission.

The panel – made up of former civil
service boss Lord Turnbull and Rory Phillips QC – had to travel up to
his house just outside Glasgow, as Cummings is recovering from an
illness.

Cummings left the bank in disgrace in
January 2009 after it had been rescued by Lloyds, with an estimated £6m
pension pot and a £660,000 pay off.

But his past finally caught up with
him in September when he received a lifetime ban and a £500,000 fine
from the Financial Services Authority.

The watchdog accused him of presiding
over a ‘culture of aggressive growth’ which crippled HBOS and
ultimately led to the £20billion bail out of Lloyds.

He remains the only failed bank boss to have been punished since the crisis.

Asked whether anyone else was to blame for the fiasco, he said: ‘I am absolutely heartbroken about what happened, and I live with it every day.

But it would be inappropriate of me to point the finger at any colleague.’

He added: ‘Would I like to be born
again and live a life different to the one I’ve got? The short answer is
yes... Every day I look in the mirror and ask that – what did I do
wrong?’

Cummings, who described the implosion
of HBOS as a ‘train crash’ claimed he had been ‘singled out’. He said:
‘We are not the only failed bank. There are least four or five of them,
and I find it curious that I was singled out... I think it is sinister
and curious.’

Crosby confirmed it was the chief executive and finance director who increased lending targets each year.

The testimony turns the spotlight
back on Crosby, who is described as one of the forgotten men of the
financial crisis. He left HBOS in the Summer of 2006 with a £572,000
pension.

Courted by former prime minister
Gordon Brown, he went on to become deputy chairman of the Financial
Services Authority, before collecting a string of lucrative positions on
company boards.

He finally apologised for his role in
HBOS’s downfall when he was grilled by the banking commission earlier
this month but he has avoided the dramatic rise and fall experienced by
Cummings

Dumbarton-born Cummings, 57, came
from humble beginnings, joining Bank of Scotland in 1973 as a tea boy,
almost 20 years before it merged with Halifax to become HBOS. But he
rose rapidly thought the ranks.

As head of the corporate division, he
became known as the banker to the stars, with a glittering client list
including retail tycoon Sir Philip Green and property entrepreneur
Robert Tchenguiz.

During the long hearing, in which he was forced to take breaks due to ill health, he served tea and sandwiches.

A friend of Cummings said: ‘He has been totally unfairly treated. How can one man be blamed for everything that went wrong?’

The FSA, which has been heavily
criticised for failing to raise the alarm bells on HBOS, is set to
publish a report into the collapse of HBOS next year.

Cummings was also critical of the regulator’s failure to act and of the inexperience of its staff.

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'Why was I singled out?': Disgraced banker Peter Cummings blamed for HBOS implosion turn his sights on former bosses